DC City Council Considers Taxpayer-Funded Wi-Fi Program

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Heartland:

Washington, DC City Council lawmakers are considering legislation to create a government commission to study how to implement a network of taxpayer-funded internet Wi-Fi access points, also called “internet hotspots,” throughout the city.

 

If approved by the council and signed into law by Mayor Muriel Bowser, the Wi-Fi Taskforce Act, sponsored by Councilmember Vincent Orange in April, would require the committee to meet eight times per year and create a plan for a proposed Wi-Fi network covering the city.

 

‘Wave After Wave’

 

James Gattuso, a senior research fellow at the Roe Institute for Economic Policy at The Heritage Foundation, says taxpayer-funded wireless internet networks have a long history of failing to deliver on their promises.

 

“There have been wave after wave of bankruptcies,” Gattuso said. “It’s not something cities do well, and it’s something taxpayers lose out on. It costs them money, and they do not end up with better service.”

 

Gattuso says the DC city government has a track record of failing taxpayers.

 

“DC is a city that has taken five years to get a trolley running in northwest Washington, DC,” Gattuso said. “It’s still not available. I don’t have confidence they can run a lemonade stand.”